AUTHOR'S NOTE: All the Slayers characters are property of their
respective companies and distributions. I'm just a fan, please don't sue me.
This is an alternity fic with heavy angst, dark themes, and YAOI, so if you are
under 18 or the legal age in your state or country, offended by m/m
relationships, or can not handle really dark literature, than leave now!! I
won't be responsible for you if you do not! Domo arigato, and enjoy the fic!!
=^.^= Filia fans, please forgive me ahead of time! =^.^= Reference to Aerosmith
song and all of that is property of Aerosmith and their respective companies.

CHAPTER EIGHT: "Janie's Got a Gun..."

Ameria
cracked open one of her blue black eyes. She groaned as the little bit of dim
light sneaked in between her eyelashes and invaded her pupil. She wouldn't have
even bothered to have awaken if it hadn't been for the terrible pounding in her
head. She realized vaguely after a moment that the pounding was not coming from
her head, but was actually radiating from her bedroom door. She rolled over,
trying to shut the noise out, but without avail.

"Go away..." Ameria mumbled, pulling her pillow over
her ears.

"Miss Ameria, a Sergeant Lina Inverse wishes to speak with
you immediately. I told her that you were resting, but she refused to take 'no'
for an answer. Shall I tell her you are not available?"

Upon hearing Lina's name, Ameria shot up in bed. The mistake of
moving too quick had already been made and she almost fell out of bed. Dragging
herself from the large bed, she wobbled over to her bedroom door and cracked it
open. The butler stood at attention, holding one of the mansion's hand held
phones in his hand.

"No, I'll take it. Thank you..."

"As you wish, Miss Ameria."

The butler handed Ameria the phone, bowed and made his exit.
Ameria tried to form enough saliva in her mouth to talk, but was finding that
was even difficult. Finally, she held the phone to the side of her head.

"G-good morning, Sergeant Inverse..." she whispered.

"Actually, Detective Saillune, it's evening, and I suggest
you get dressed, kid. It's time for your first real lead on your first case and
I don't want you to miss this opportunity."

Ameria's face lit up, although the rest of her almost fell over.

"Really?! Oh, Sergeant Inverse, thank you!"

"I wouldn't be thanking me too much, Saillune. Meet
Detective Greywars at 516 South Charleston. Oh, and I hope that little hang over
has ended, Saillune."

"Er, why?" Ameria questioned quietly, very
embarrassed.

"Because you're going to need a strong stomach for this
one."

With that, Lina hung up her end of the phone, leaving Ameria to
listen to a dial tone that pulsed through her brain like a screeching car wheel.
She clicked the phone off and walked into the bathroom. The pallor of her skin
and the dark rings under her eyes indicated last night's little escapade. She
washed her face slowly, feeling her normal self begin to emerge again.

"I wonder what Sergeant Inverse meant by a weak
stomach?"

*****

Filia walked out of "Sam's Cafe" as she had every
night. She closed the door quietly and locked it securely, making sure from the
window that all the lights were off and that everything was in order.

Filia walked down the street toward Gourry and her apartment.
She never liked walking alone, even after five years of walking the same path.
It always was so dark, and the city of Worthing had never installed the new
street lights like they had promised. Filia always had to keep her eyes wide
open, because one couldn't even see cars some times because of how dark it was.

Crossing the street and heading into the alley, Filia already
had her keys out and quickly pulled down the apartment ladder, scurrying back up
it, pulling it up and locking it into place. She felt oddly nervous tonight, but
tried to shake the feeling from her. Slipping her key into the lock, she opened
the door and quickly went inside, closing the door.

Below the apartment building, just outside the alley, a large
car pulled up. It came to a quiet halt and the front doors opened softly. Two
men lost partially in the darkness of the street quietly made their way down the
alley.

*****

Naga stared at the car for a very long time and then looked at
Zelgadiss, who had his hands tucked in his pockets of his coat. Once again, the
Worthing rain had helped in washing away valuable evidence, but the body on the
car gave pretty good idea of what occurred.

"Well, we know it wasn't suicide, the young woman upstairs
had her neck broken."

"Murder, Naga?" Zel questioned, studying the broken
body on the car.

"That seems the most logical answer. If you look
here," Naga walked over to the body on top of the car and pointed to it's
chest cavity. "there is a very large bullet cavity. It appears that the
bullet came from a small arms weapon, but was definitely of high caliber
standard. Too bad it's so wedged in the body that we can't see what kind of
bullet it is."

Zelgadiss was always amazed by Naga. She was the laziest, most
obnoxious person on the 14th precincts force, but she knew her weapons and her
wounds. If anyone could pinpoint fowl play as easy as Zel, it was her.

"So," Zel began as he walked past the car and stared
up through the rain at the remnants of the shattered high rise window.
"someone or someone's broke the girl's neck and then somehow got this guy
against the window and shot him, causing the window to break and him to plummet
these stories and land on this very nice car. Pretty smart. So, who is this
fellow?"

"According to the wallet we found upstairs, his name is
Xellos Metallia, he owns the Night Dweller.

The girl upstairs
is named Phibrezo, she apparently was his girlfriend of sorts."

Zelgadiss felt the saliva catch in his throat. This mess of a
man on the car was Gourry's pimp. If Martina, Garv, and now Phibrezo and Xellos
were dead, that left only one victim...or suspect. Zel felt a chill shoot up his
spine.

"No, he couldn't...he just couldn't..." Zel's mind
began to reel and he stumbled a little forward.

Zel turned around to see Ameria running up the street. She was
soaked down to her police uniform shoes. She was puffing in the cold rain as she
reached the crime scene.

"Sorry it took me so long! Sergeant Inverse called me, and
I was still a little messed up with last night! I didn't mean to make a wrong
impression! So, what's going on? Can you fill me in on..."

Ameria didn't finish her sentence as Naga moved to the side and
she got her first glimpse of Xellos's broken, bleeding body. She let out a
squeak of horror and slapped her hand over her mouth, disappearing behind a
nearby police car.

"She's got quite a weak stomach, doesn't she, Greywars?"
Naga teased.

Zel was too locked up in his thoughts to even really notice
Ameria getting sick or hearing Naga's snide remarks. His mind kept running over
the visage of innocence that was Gourry.

"He just couldn't be a serial killer...could he?"

*****

Filia stood in the kitchen, boiling water for her chicken soup.
She was lonely and started wishing that Gourry hadn't decided to go out and
"sell his goods" as so aptly put it to her.

"Why couldn't you have just washed dishes at Sam's, Gourry?"
she asked herself out loud.

Pouring the water into a small cup, she added her instant soup
package. It wasn't much, but it was something to eat. Until Gourry got paid for
his next employment opportunity, they'd have to live off of instant chicken
soup, ramen, and some old carrots in the fridge.

"It would be nicer if that cheapskate who owns Sam's would
pay me more." she thought to herself.

Filia walked into their bedroom/living room and sat on the bed.
She listened to the rain outside and sipped her soup silently. She still felt
uncomfortable and shifted uneasily from the bed to the chair. The clock stared
back at her, the red numbers uncaring and unfeeling.

"It'll be another hour at least before Gourry gets home,
unless the rain gets too bad."

A soft squeak caught Filia's attention among the silence of the
room. She looked up from her broth to see the lock on the door turning very
slowly. She felt a lump of saliva catch in her throat and very slowly stood up,
walking toward the telephone.

"Gourry, is that you?" she asked loudly.

No response met her voice and the lock continued to turn, almost
standing at the unlocked position. Filia carefully picked up the ancient phone
and slowly made her way to the door, dialing the '911' number as she made her
way over.

"This is 911, what is your emergency?" a distant voice
said over the line.

"Yes, this is Filia Ul Copt. I'm at 428 Mark Drive,
apartment seven. There appears to be some people trying to break into my
apartment. Could you please send someone over immediately?"

"There is a fire that broke out in Chinatown, Miss Ul Copt,
but we'll send someone over as soon as we can. Please stay on the line with
me." the concerned voice said softly.

Filia reached the lock and turned it quickly back to the locked
stance, stepping away quickly, her breath catching in her throat.

"Miss Ul Copt, are you still there?"

"Yes....yes, I am. I've just locked the door again. I don't
know what to do."

"Is there somewhere that you can hide?" the voice
became more concerned by the minute.

"No...this is a one bedroom apartment and the lock on the
bathroom doesn't work. Oh no, the lock's turning again..." Filia's voice
slowly became more fearful as she once again headed toward the door, ready to
turn the lock back again.

"Miss Ul Copt, we have notified a car that is in your
vicinity. They'll be there within ten minutes. Can you still hear me?"

"Yes...please hurry..." Filia whispered, becoming more
shaken by the minute. "They're trying to get in again..."

Filia reached a trembling hand over to the door lock when the
door suddenly flew open, sending her and the phone on to her back. She stared up
as two men with unseen faces loomed over her. One held a gun in his left hand.

"Oh my...!!!!!!!!" Filia screamed into the phone.

"Miss Ul Copt, are you still there, Miss Ul Copt?..."
the voice asked frantically and was suddenly answered back by a dial tone.
Immediately, the 911 woman picked up the phone and placed another call,
summoning the nearest police car available.

Filia watched in horror as the man wearing the hood pressed his
finger over the telephone rest, cutting off her 911 call. The other man, with
his long blue black hair stared down at her, though she couldn't see his face
because of the large hat.

"Naughty, naughty, Filia. You should play nice." the
man with the gun and the hat said softly.

Filia scooted backwards toward the apartment window. If she
could manage to get out, it was only about a ten to fifteen foot drop. She might
break her ankle, but she could still manage to run.

"What are you doing in my house?!" Filia screamed,
continuing to back away.

"What we always do, share our form of hospitality with
those who deserve it..." the man responded.

Filia got to her feet slowly, continuing to move backwards. She
was only a couple feet from the window. If she could just throw herself through
it, she could be out with her life in tact.

The other man suddenly bolted forward with an amount of inhuman
speed and grabbed Filia before she had time to crash through the window. He held
her tightly, his breath rank against her cheek. The jewel caught her attention
immediately, and she felt a chill run through her body.

"LET ME GO!!" Filia demanded, beginning to kick
furiously.

"Oh, she's a lively one, Zangulus. Perhaps we should play
with her first?" the man holding Filia asked viciously.

"Mmm, it's tempting, Vrummugen. But then again, the boss
did send us to do one thing. Which you have to admit, is more fun than the
other."

Vrummugen's mouth turned up in an eerie, dark smile and he
suddenly threw Filia against the wall. She felt her head hit the wall hard
enough to give her slightly blurred vision. Barely holding herself up, she felt
her bottom lip tremble in terror. Zangulus let out an icy laugh as he reached
into his pocket and pulled a small cylinder object and attach it to his gun.
Filia realized in her distant, blurred mind, that he was putting a silencer on
his gun.

"No reason to wake up the neighbors, now is there?"
Zangulus laughed quietly.

Filia knew distantly that she was crying and that there was no
way she could get away. She watched through blurred eyes as the tall, blue black
haired man raised the gun up, aimed directly between her eyes. She closed her
eyes, waiting for the inevitable. She never saw them throw the gun to the side
and jump out the window, breaking the glass into her room. The last word she
screamed before silence was the only word that had meant anything to her in her
short life.

"GOURRY!!"

*****

Gourry strained a smile, sitting in his landlord's room
downstairs. He had come back from the streets early because of the severe rain.
He had already removed his boots in front of Filia and his apartment and was
just about to go in when Jeffery had caught him.

Jeffery was an odd young man who lived with his mother who
collected vintage war hammers. She was very scary, but Jeffery was a wimp. Not
to mention flamboyantly gay and very attracted to Gourry. Jeffery came out
wearing his pink shift and high heels, carrying tea. Gourry stared at the clock.
Filia would be home within the next ten minutes. He really wanted to show her
the money he had made tonight, despite the short night. They could buy groceries
and Filia would still have enough to buy the pink sweater she wanted at one of
the downtown department stores. Of course, seeing Jeffery in pink made Gourry
wonder whether he could convince her to buy light blue. He held his boots in his
lap. Jeffery had insisted he bring them with him, since it made their apartment
look bad, having boots setting out in the hall.

"As if the place wasn't run down enough." Gourry
thought ruefully to himself.

Jeffery took a teacup and handed it to Gourry. Gourry smiled
again, feeling as though his face was going to crack.

"Thank you, Jeffery. You know, Filia is going to be home
pretty soon and I really should be there to see her."

"Oh pish-posh..." Jeffery responded in his lispy
feminine voice.

"Oh man," Gourry thought to himself. "even I'm
not that bad..."

Jeffery looked Gourry up and down, licking his thin lips.

"So, how was business for you tonight, Gourry?"

"Busy enough, Jeffery."

"Perhaps I can offer a little to add into your pot?"
Jeffery questioned, holding up two hundred dollar bills.

Gourry stared at the money and swore it looked just like the
rent money he had paid Jeffery and his mother only a week before.

"Er, that's very kind of you, Jeffery, but I think..."

"Jeffery, who is that in there with you?" a deep
female voice asked.

"Oh good heavens, it's my mother!" Jeffery almost
shouted.

Gourry said a silent prayer to the heavens for that giant of a
woman. The huge woman with purple hair and more lipstick on than Gourry thought
humanly possible came storming into the living room.

"Jeffery! What are you doing?! Mr. Gabriev, are you selling
your goods to my sweet, innocent baby boy?!" she thundered.

Gourry immediately got to his feet, setting the tea cup down and
holding his boots to his chest.

"Forgive me, ma'am, I really must be going..." Gourry
quickly said.

"Leave the boots." she responded.

The young blonde haired man stared at the woman.

"Excuse me?"

"Leave the boots. If you're going to seduce my son with
your wily, sexual ways and tawdry behavior, then you're going to walk all the
way to your apartment barefoot."

Gourry stared at the huge bulk of a woman, his mouth gaping
open.

"Either that, or you'll have to let Jeffery and I play with
you."
Gourry pushed the vomit down in his throat and quickly deposited the boots near
the coffee table. Opening the door quickly, leaving, and slamming it just as
quickly, he was sure he'd lose his supper at any moment.

"That was the most horrifying thought of my life." he
mused.

The young man stared down at his bare feet. The floor was
partially flooded and he had to pad through the cold water to get to the
staircase. He grumbled the whole way up, carefully moving up the old staircase.
He stopped for a moment and pulled a sliver from his foot.

"Stupid Jeffery...stupid mother...damn, this hurts."

He sat down on the one of the near top steps and rubbed his sore
foot. He sighed, wishing that somehow he could find a new place for Filia and
him to live. They didn't deserve this kind of treatment.

"Especially when land people take your boots." he
growled.

He stared down the staircase when a voice ripped through the
air. A voice he knew belonged to only one person.

"GOURRY!!"
"Filia..."

Gourry took off, running up the rest of the stairs and down the
hall to the main door of their apartment. The door was unlocked, forced open.
Gourry warily pushed the door open the rest of the ways, seeing absolute black
in his room.

"Where are all the lights?" he thought to himself.

He stepped in, the only light showing into the small room was
the little bit that came streaming out from the hallway. The place looked in
order, but he couldn't find Filia any where.

"Filia?" he asked quietly, waiting for a response.

He felt his blood chill when he didn't hear her voice. Walking
very carefully into the room, his bare toe stubbed into something warm, almost
hot. Gourry looked down to see something black and shiny in the little light
from the hall. He picked up the object with his right hand, immediately
realizing he was holding a gun with a silencer.

"What the hell?!" he asked out loud.

His attention was turned to the other side of the room, which
was completely pitch black. A flash of lightning cracked through the rainy skies
and within that moment, he saw his worst nightmare.

Rain was pouring through a broken window and beside the bed was
the crumpled form of his baby sister. Her beautiful long gold white hair was
streaked with maroon, her eyes open and wide, staring at Gourry. Her face was
streaked with that same sickening red color, her mouth open. Right in the center
of her head was a mark that was unmistakably made by a gun. Behind her was a
splotch of red. Another flash of lightning illuminated her face again and
everything Gourry had in his life crashed down in that one minute.

"FILIA!!"

*****

Naga heard the beeping of her CB radio through the heavy rain
and noise of people who had gathered to look at the terrible scene. Naga had
always been disgusted with those kind of people. Worse yet, nobody in the
apartment was talking whether or not they had seen anyone go to Xellos's place.
She hated when people didn't cooperate. Naga opened her car door and sat down,
picking up the CB radio.

"This is Officer Naga the White Serpent, ident number
689356, what is the situation?"

"Officer White Serpent, there is a disturbance at location
428 Mark Drive, apartment seven. A Filia Ul Copt placed a call only a few
minutes ago about a illegal entry situation and we lost contact with her.
According to our location scanner, you and another police vehicle are closest to
the area. We need you to check on her immediately."

"Understood, code red situation. Over and out."

Naga hung up the CB radio and leaned out of her car door.

"Hey, Greywars, we got another situation on our
hands!"

Zelgadiss pulled himself from his thoughts and walked over to
Naga. Ameria had appeared from behind the police vehicle a few minutes before,
but even looked pale through the rain.

"Seems that there's been an illegal entry disturbance at
428 Mark Drive in apartment seven. A young woman reported someone or someone's
trying to break into her house and then 911 lost communication with her a few
minutes ago. We're only about five, maybe seven minute drive from here. The boys
can clean up. Hop in, I'll give you a ride."

"Where...where did you say that the call came from?"

"Mark Drive." Naga answered impatiently. She was
itching to go and do some damage.

Zel shook his head slightly and grabbed the weak kneed Ameria,
almost throwing her into the backseat. He quickly opened the door and hopped in
beside Naga.

"Drive...now..." Zel growled.

Naga stared at Zelgadiss for a moment, but seeing the look in
his eyes, she quickly kicked the car into reverse, turning on the police lights
and speeding to Mark Drive.

Reaching the poorly lit street, Zelgadiss came tearing out of
the car, followed quickly by Naga. Ameria managed to get out on her own, her
stomach still feeling like it was floating in her body. Zel drew his gun and
kicked open the main door to the apartment complex.

Jeffery opened the door to his apartment, peeking out to see
what the commotion was. He saw the police officers and immediately walked out
the door.

"May I help you?" he lisped.

"We got a call that said there's been a disturbance at 428
Mark Drive, apartment seven." Naga stated, showing her badge.

"There's been no such disturbance." Jeffery responded.

A voice suddenly cut through the air.

"FILIA!!"

Zelgadiss took off up the steps, already knowing where the voice
was coming from.

The chimera ran down the hall way, already seeing the door open
to apartment seven. Holding his gun up, he spun into the room, holding the
weapon almost directly at the young man inside. Zel could feel himself shake the
moment he saw the young man's face.

"...gourry..." he barely whispered.

Naga and Ameria were quick to follow, Naga pushing past
Zelgadiss and knocking the gun out of the unresisting blonde haired man's hand.
Gourry snapped into reality, beginning to scream Filia's name again and struggle
against Naga as the woman threw him to the ground, holding him down and placing
the handcuffs on him.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can
and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an
attorney." Naga continued to read him his rights as Ameria stepped inside,
her eyes falling upon the form of Filia in the corner.

"Detective Greywars..." she whispered.

Zel stared at the body of Filia, a young woman he had know
briefly and also knew the love Gourry had for her. But, here he was with the
weapon, and everyone else he was connected with was dead.

Zelgadiss looked down at Gourry, the young man's face streaked
with tears as Naga pulled him to his feet. He struggled against her, wanting to
go to Filia, but she pulled him out of the room. His cries for his sister
pounded in Zel's mind.

Ameria approached Zelgadiss, her shaking already lessened from
having seen Xellos dead. She stood beside her senior companion, noticing the
look of loss on his face.

"Detective Greywars?"

"Get the zoning tape, Detective Saillune. This is now a
crime scene."

"Yes sir..." Ameria responded softly, not questioning
his orders. She quietly walked out of the room, leaving the chimera to stare
into the darkened apartment and at the body in it.

Zel leaned against the door frame, putting his gun away. He
covered his face with his hands, trying desperately to stop the tears that
wanted to appear.

"I didn't think he could do it...not him..." Zel
whispered to himself.

Zel's eyes were drawn down to the carpet where thick patches of
mud stained the floor.

"Weird that he could track so much mud..." Zel thought
distantly to himself.

Ameria returned shortly with the zoning tape, and Zelgadiss numbly took it
from her, stringing it along the door frame as they began their wait for the
coroner, the reporters, and look sees to arrive.